Jim Ingraham: Pitching leads Tribe's winter wish list

They have already lost pitchers Scott Kazmir and Joe Smith to free agency, and they are expected to lose Ubaldo Jimenez and Matt Albers the same way.
So as Indians general manager Chris Antonetti and his band of front office baseball brothers head to Orlando, Fla., for the start of Major League Baseball’s winter meetings on Monday, it’s obvious what’s at the top of the Tribe’s shopping list.
“Pitching,” said Antonetti. “Hopefully we can find the right guy at the right price.”
It could be through a trade. It could be through a free-agent signing. But the Indians need at least one veteran starting pitcher and a veteran reliever to help cover the expected losses not just of the above named pitchers, but also closer Chris Perez, who was released at the end of the season.
That’s five key pitchers from a wild-card-winning roster.
Not surprisingly, Antonetti, who gets paid to see the glass as half full — at least publicly — does.
“Our goal last year at this time was to make moves that would put us in a better position at this time this year,” he said. “I think we did that.”
The Indians last year signed free agents Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, Ryan Raburn and Jason Giambi. Through trades they added Yan Gomes, Mike Aviles, Drew Stubbs, Bryan Shaw and Trevor Bauer. All are expected back next season.
The Indians this off-season signed free agent David Murphy to be the left-handed hitting half of a right field platoon in 2014. That could very well be the only significant position player added by the Tribe this winter.
Rumors persist that the Indians are quietly shopping Asdrubal Cabrera, who will become a free agent after the 2014 season. But it would not be a shock if Cabrera was the team’s Opening-Day shortstop for the fifth consecutive year in 2014.
So the bulk of Antonetti’s conversations with general managers and agents at next week’s meetings will be about pitching. Assuming Jimenez signs with another team, the Indians will have lost 40 percent of their starting rotation from last year, including their two best pitchers during their record-setting month of September: Jimenez and Kazmir.
“Both guys were meaningful contributors for us, but we feel we have some quality alternatives available internally,” Antonetti said. “If you look at our rotation now compared to last year at this time, we’re in a much better spot.”
That rotation starts with No. 1 starter Justin Masterson, a 14- game winner and All-Star selection in 2013. As of today, Antonetti said Corey Kluber and Zach McAllister are the Nos. 2 and 3 starters, and that Danny Salazar, who was electrifying in many of his 10 starts last season, posting a 3.12 ERA and averaging 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings, “is in a good spot” as the No. 4 man in the rotation.
After that, it’s wide open. The internal candidates include Josh Tomlin, Carlos Carrasco and the enigmatic Bauer. Externally, the free-agent market includes names such as Bartolo Colon, Matt Garza, Bronson Arroyo, Ervin Santana and Paul Maholm.
Trades are also a possibility.
The action could start at next week’s meetings.
“There’s a chance we could do something there,” Antonetti said. “But it’s hard to assess the probabilities.”
In a frenetic off-season that has already seen marquee players such as Prince Fielder, Ian Kinsler, and Doug Fister traded, and free-agent signings of big ticket items such as Robinson Cano, Jacoby Ellsbury, Joe Nathan, Brian McCann and Tim Hudson — the Indians have been relatively quiet.
Don’t read too much into that, said Antonetti.
“Last year at this time we hadn’t made any significant acquisitions,” he said. “I expect that there will be some activity in this off-season.”
Antonetti spent over $100 million on free agents last winter, and he said he is not being financially limited by ownership this winter.
“We have the resources we need to field a contending team,” he said.
The Tigers, who won the Central Division by one game over the Indians, have traded Fielder and Fister, traded for Kinsler, and signed Nathan as a free agent.
The Royals have signed free-agent pitcher Jason Vargas, and the Twins have signed free-agent pitchers Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes.
“The Tigers, Twins and Royals have all added players,” Antonetti said. “I expect it to be a very competitive division next year, and, hopefully, we will be in the mix.”
Before a team can walk the walk during the season, it must talk the talk. That’s what Antonetti will do next week as he looks for some missing pieces at the winter meetings.
“Our focus is on pitching and we’re engaged in both trade and free-agent discussions,” he said. “We have offers (on the table) both ways.”
JIngraham@News-Herald.com
Twitter: @jitribeinsider